I hadn’t planned on taking any rest days during this adventure, and certainly never contemplated having to go to Urgent Care! But last night I woke up with a fever, and I fear some of my blisters are infected. Ick! So today Maura and I are staying in our room at the Holiday Inn Express in Antigo (very nice, conveniently located and reasonably priced), waiting for Antigo’s one Urgent Care place to open.
Have to give kudos to another Off-the-Trail Angel, Dr. Curt Draeger. Dr. Draeger is a chiropractor here in Antigo who opened his office late last night to give me some cold laser treatments on my knee, which was still bothering me, and an adjustment. Dr. Lisa Tenold in Eau Claire highly recommended him. Those treatments were just what I needed!
Dr. Draeger said my blisters – which I never get when I hike/trail run – may have been caused by some of my body parts being out of alignment (the worst parts were all in the same hip-leg-foot as the blisters). Anyway, Dr. Draeger has this amazing, innovative facility where he treats a lot of people with chronic pain, plus athletes, including the U.S. Olympic decathletes and some of the Packers, including Aaron Rogers. Some of my athlete friends should talk to me about him when I’m back home – I think he could help some of you (Ann, call me!).
Urgent Care Diagnosis
Antigo’s Urgent Care didn’t open until 10 a.m. I hated waiting so long; I was still hoping to get back on the trail. But the doctor diagnosed me with cellulitis, which is a potentially serious skin infection. She told me not to run or hike for three days. Well, that wasn’t going to happen! But I didn’t want to be stupid, so I decided to take this day off. I still had to fill a prescription for antibiotics, and by the time we’d get back to the trail, it would be afternoon.
It was great having Maura with me on my “zero” day. Obviously, I was bummed at having to take a day off, to say the least, but she made it fun. We rented “Admission” from Red Box, ate subs and just had a lot of laughs.
Meeting the Jopeks
We also stopped over at the home of Langlade County IATA chapter heads Joe and Peg Jopek. What a nice couple! Joe showed me loads of photos of the upcoming segments in Langlade County, known to be confusing. He pointed out how this county signs the trail, the difference in ATV signs vs. Ice Age Trail signs (they’re very similar), etc.
Joe also advised me to do a slight detour around the start of the Parrish Hills segment tomorrow, since there’s a creek crossing and lots of soggy areas, which won’t be a good thing for healing blisters and cellulitis. And he and Peg offered to drop water for me tomorrow afternoon, when Maura leaves for home and I won’t have my next crew member, Doug Erickson, until the evening. What service!
As much as I want to be on the trail, it’s nice to be able to catch up on some of my writing, emails, etc. Enjoy some of these trail photos in the slideshow, taken during the last 11 days. I’m really getting into mushrooms – there’s an amazing variety out in the woods, and some are quite stunning. I also like the variety of deer stands, and some of the interesting/funny signs I’ve come across. Hope you do, too!
Disclosure: This entry contains affiliate links (among regular links) to products I own and like, or which I think you might like. There may be lodging links as well to places I stayed at and enjoyed. This means that, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
